MetaFilter posts tagged with civilwar and warhttp://www.metafilter.com/tags/civilwar+war
Posts tagged with 'civilwar' and 'war' at MetaFilter.Sun, 22 Feb 2015 17:02:37 -0800Sun, 22 Feb 2015 17:02:37 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60A daring plan to rebuild Syria — no matter who wins the warhttp://www.metafilter.com/147263/A%2Ddaring%2Dplan%2Dto%2Drebuild%2DSyria%2Dno%2Dmatter%2Dwho%2Dwins%2Dthe%2Dwar
<a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/02/21/daring-plan-rebuild-syria-matter-who-wins-war/oD5IxhqveGjfPQryW6q3OJ/story.html">In terms of sheer devastation, Syria today is worse off than Germany at the end of World War II.</a> The first year of Syria’s uprising, 2011, largely spared Aleppo, the country’s economic engine, largest city, and home of its most prized heritage sites. Fighting engulfed Aleppo in 2012 and has never let up since, making the city a symbol of the civil war’s grinding destruction. Rebels captured the eastern side of the city while the government held the west. The regime dropped conventional munitions and then barrel bombs on the rebels, who fought back with rockets and mortars. In 2012, the historical Ottoman covered souk was destroyed. In 2013, shelling destroyed the storied minaret of the 11th-century Ummayid Mosque. Apartment blocks were reduced to rubble. More than 3 million residents fled, out of a prewar population of 5 million. Today, residents say the city is virtually uninhabitable; most who remain have nowhere else to go.
In downtown Beirut, a day’s drive from the worst of the war zone, a team of Syrians is undertaking an experiment without precedent. tag:metafilter.com,2015:site.147263Sun, 22 Feb 2015 17:02:37 -0800standardasparagusA once peaceful nationhttp://www.metafilter.com/142410/A%2Donce%2Dpeaceful%2Dnation
<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/08/central_african_republic_how_a_once_peaceful_nation_descended_into_a_brutal.html">Close Your Heart</a> <br>A long-form article from Slate about the Central African Republic’s sectarian civil war. tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.142410Tue, 02 Sep 2014 01:49:12 -0800Joe in AustraliaA Triumph of the Wet-Plate, Among Other Thingshttp://www.metafilter.com/140106/A%2DTriumph%2Dof%2Dthe%2DWet%2DPlate%2DAmong%2DOther%2DThings
<em>The Photographic History of the Civil War</em> (10 vols.; 1911) offered context for thousands of striking images from the <a href="http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/overview.html">American Civil War</a>: 1 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic01franrich#page/n11/mode/2up">The Opening Battles</a>; 2 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic02franrich#page/n11/mode/2up">Two Years of Grim War</a>; 3 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic03franrich#page/n11/mode/2up">The Decisive Battles</a>; 4 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic04franrich#page/n11/mode/2up">The Cavalry</a>; 5 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic05franrich#page/6/mode/2up">Forts and Artillery</a>; 6 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic06franrich#page/6/mode/2up">The Navies</a>; 7 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic07franrich#page/n11/mode/2up">Prisons and Hospitals</a>; 8 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic08franrich#page/n13/mode/2up">Soldier Life / Secret Service</a>; 9 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic09franrich#page/6/mode/2up">Poetry and Eloquence of Blue and Gray</a>; 10 - <a href="https://archive.org/stream/millersphotographic10franrich#page/n11/mode/2up">Armies and Leaders</a>. It was also a capstone in the intriguing career of a little-known popular historian and silent era filmmaker. Edited by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Trevelyan_Miller">Francis Trevelyan Miller, Litt.D., LL.D.</a>, the work drew on dozens of photographic sources, but chiefly the <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/collections/72157622495226723/">Brady</a>-<a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/01021785/">Gardner</a> collection. Miller had also provided the text for <em><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43922/43922-h/43922-h.htm">Original Photographs Taken on the Battlefields During the Civil War of the United States</a></em> (1907), which focused exclusively on that collection. (The Internet Archive has several alternative scans of the longer work, e.g. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist01mill#page/n11/mode/2up">1</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist02mill#page/n11/mode/2up">2</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist03mill#page/n11/mode/2up">3</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist04mill#page/n11/mode/2up">4</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist05mill#page/n11/mode/2up">5</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist06mill#page/n11/mode/2up">6</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist07mill#page/n11/mode/2up">7</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist08mill#page/n11/mode/2up">8</a>, and <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist09mill#page/n11/mode/2up">9</a>, or <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist01inmill#page/n9/mode/2up">1</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist02inmill#page/n9/mode/2up">2</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist6667mill#page/n9/mode/2up">3</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist04inmill#page/n9/mode/2up">4</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist05inmill#page/n9/mode/2up">5</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist06inmill#page/6/mode/2up">6</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist07inmill#page/6/mode/2up">7</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist08inmill#page/n9/mode/2up">8</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist09inmill#page/6/mode/2up">9</a>, and <a href="https://archive.org/stream/photographichist10inmill#page/6/mode/2up">10</a>, as well as an <a href="https://archive.org/details/originalphotogra00eato">alternative scan</a> of the Brady/Gardner book.)
Newer, flashier resources on related topics include these <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-american-civil-war-photos-turned-into-glorious-color-2013-10">colorized Civil War photos</a> and YA author John Green's entertaining video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY9zHNOjGrs">Crash</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzTrKccmj_I">Course</a> on the Civil War, which covers photography in its latter half.
But <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/495202.Francis_Trevelyan_Miller">Miller</a> <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19907433">himself</a> had a flair for the popular and the dramatic. <a href="https://archive.org/stream/journalofamerica01natiuoft#page/n17/mode/2up">Founder and first editor-in-chief</a> of <em><a href="http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/about/history.html">The Journal of American History</a></em>, he's <a href="https://archive.org/stream/herotalesfromame00mill#page/n11/mode/2up">pictured here in his 1909 book <em>Hero Tales from American Life</em></a>, which was probably intended for young adults. Miller also co-directed the 1916 short film, <em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lGxZbTFL4w">Diana the Huntress</a></em>, based on his own adaptation of Roman mythology and starring <a href="https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-valda-valkyrien/">Valda Valkyrien</a> and the artist/actor <a href="http://grapefruitmoongallery.com/9356">Paul</a> <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/servlet/DCARead?standardNo=0803229690&standardNoType=1&excerpt=true">Swan</a> (better known from Andy Warhol's <em><a href="http://www.warholstars.org/filmch/warhol/swan.html">Paul Swan</a></em> (1965) and <em><a href="http://www.warholstars.org/filmch/warhol/camp.html">Camp</a></em> (1965)). And he is credited with the scenario and screen story for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75bMtjVv3yc">a 1919 silent film about Helen Keller called <em>Deliverance</em></a> that featured <a href="http://www.midnightpalace.com/articles/helen-keller-movie-star">remarkably grandiose symbolism</a>, not to mention Helen Keller flying in a biplane, Helen Keller's imaginary romantic relationship with Ulysses, and Helen Keller sounding a trumpet while riding a horse and leading a flag-waving mob.
Previously: <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/42146/Images-of-the-American-Civil-War">Images of the Civil War</a>, <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/88873/Historical-Photographs-and-Documents">Historical Photographs and Documents</a>, <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/132704/Humming-Ashokan-Farewell-While-Viewing-Is-Optional">Animated Maps of Civil War Battles</a>, <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/131225/20-Historic-Black-and-White-Photos-Colorized">Colorized Photos</a>, <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/136533/American-History-a-very-qualified-Yaaay">Crash Course</a>, and <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/70649/Helen-Keller-and-Anne-Sullivan-talking">Helen</a> <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/26458/Hellen-Keller-The-Fraud">Keller</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.140106Sat, 21 Jun 2014 01:49:35 -0800Monsieur CautionWithout A Leg to Stand Onhttp://www.metafilter.com/135005/Without%2DA%2DLeg%2Dto%2DStand%2DOn
<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/john-bell-hoods-leg/?_r=0">John Bell Hood’s Leg</a> — "This marked Hood’s third major combat injury; he had suffered an arrow through the hand while fighting Comanche Indians in 1857, and had lost the function of his left arm after being struck by shell fragments at Gettysburg. Hood was a famous general, but he now faced an outlook shared by hundreds of thousands of other soldiers who were likewise injured during the war. He became dependent on the kindness of strangers, like the Little family, in order to start his long road to recovery in the midst of a realization that he would live the rest of his life as a disabled man." By <a href="http://www.emporia.edu/socsci/people/brian-miller.html">Brian Craig Miller</a>, <em>New York Times</em>, December 20, 2013. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.135005Sat, 21 Dec 2013 09:08:29 -0800cenoxoHumming Ashokan Farewell While Viewing Is Optionalhttp://www.metafilter.com/132704/Humming%2DAshokan%2DFarewell%2DWhile%2DViewing%2DIs%2DOptional
<a href="http://www.civilwar.org/maps/animated-maps/">The Civil War Trust's animated maps provides viewers with a bird's eye view of American Civil War battles.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.132704Wed, 09 Oct 2013 07:57:28 -0800Alvy AmpersandTo the honorable doctor, hellohttp://www.metafilter.com/131317/To%2Dthe%2Dhonorable%2Ddoctor%2Dhello
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqKSexSOD4w&feature=youtu.be">Casualties</a> from the Syrian civil war are being <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/130802/icu-the-israel-syria-border-were-seeing-war-these-kid">treated</a> in Israeli hospitals, some of them with <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Syrian-sent-to-Israeli-hospital-with-note-attached-316299">referrals</a> from Syrian doctors. The identities of the patients and the route they have taken is being kept secret for fear of repercussions from authorities in Syria, which is formally at war with Israel. The program seems to have originated with the unexpected arrival of <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Syrian-treated-in-Israel-succumbs-to-wounds-307879">seven Syrian rebel fighters</a> at the border in March this year. The IDF initially established a <a href="http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=8297">field hospital</a> to treat casualties arriving at the border, but <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0705/In-Israel-doctors-quietly-treat-injured-Syrians">other</a> hospitals have taken over as the number of patients continues to mount. tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.131317Mon, 26 Aug 2013 08:31:16 -0800Joe in AustraliaCrossing the "Red Line"?http://www.metafilter.com/127644/Crossing%2Dthe%2DRed%2DLine
<a href="http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/syria-options-go-bad-worse-8418">Syria Options Go From Bad To Worse</a> <blockquote>As <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/25/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html">reports</a> have surfaced of possible use of sarin gas in the Syrian civil war, calls by long-time proponents of U.S. intervention on behalf of the anti-Assad rebels have grown to a fever pitch. These same voices, both at <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/25/hagel-says-evidence-chemical-weapons-were-used-in-syria/">home</a> and <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/washington-embarrassed-over-israeli-declarations-on-syria.html">abroad</a>, have evoked the administration’s <a href="http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/25/six-times-the-white-house-discussed-the-syria-red-line/">previously stated</a> “red line” on use of chemical weapons. But even assuming that reports of WMD usage in Syria turn out to be true, the Obama Administration’s position may be far more <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/27/world/middleeast/white-house-in-no-rush-on-syria-action.html?_r=0">nuanced</a> than previously thought.</blockquote> Why would the US get involved in Syria? <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/10/syria-aerial-attacks-strike-civilians">Civilian deaths</a>, <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/30/190028/explainer-chemical-weapons-in.html">chemical</a> <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/201342835047495688.html">weapons use</a> (and <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/syrias-chemical-weapons-pose-a-decade-long-problem-for-the-world/article11674949/">proliferation</a>), and mounting <a href="http://www.guernicamag.com/features/assads-castaways/">refugee</a> <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44602">crisis</a>, and <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-lebanon-syria-tensions-20130502,0,760886.story">unrest in Lebanon</a> are reasons for intervention.
But should it? <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/all-powers/obama-appears-at-a-loss-to-define-the-way-forward-in-syria-20130430">Obama Appears At A Loss To Define The Way Forward In Syria</a>
<a href="http://www.juancole.com/2013/05/doesnt-intervene-syria.html">Why Obama Doesn't Want To Intervene In Syria</a> and <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-case-against-war-syria-204236044.html">Obama's Case Against The War In Syria</a>. Sentors Graham and McCain respond: "<a href="http://ktar.com/22/1630995/Senators-McCain-Graham-release-statement-on-Obamas-Syria-remarks">There are many options at our disposal, including military options short of boots on the ground in Syria, that can make a positive impact on this crisis, which is destabilizing the region. The President must act now or risk squandering U.S. credibility in Syria and around the world.</a>"
<a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/is-barack-obama-a-republican-realist/">Is Barack Obama A Republican Realist</a>?
Various groups have attached themselves to factions in the conflict. <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/05/20135262433130722.html">Hezbollah announced</a> that Syria has <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/01/world/meast/syria-civil-war/?hpt=wo_c1">"real friends in the region and world"</a> and that they <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-syria-hezbollah-leader-20130430,0,4797917.story">support al-Assad</a>. Opposition group <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18048033">the al-Nusrah Front</a> has "<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/201349194856244589.html">merged</a>" with Al-Qaeda In Iraq. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10022753/Syria-Al-Qaedas-battle-for-control-of-Assads-chemical-weapons-plant.html">Al-Qaeda's battle for control of Assad's chemical weapons plant</a> - "A battle near a factory believed to be one of the Syrian regime's main chemical weapons plants shows just how close such weapons could be to falling into al-Qaeda's hands."
Intervention isn't guaranteed to work. The "<a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/08/22/this_week_at_war_the_libya_model">Libyan</a> <a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/04/19/US-sees-Libya-as-model-for-Syrian-option/UPI-93561334854737/?spt=hs&or=tn">model</a>" or "Malian model" for foreign military support may not be repeatable in Syria.
<a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/05/syria-weapons-2/">Even With US Guns, Syria's Rebels Still Might Lose</a>.
But what might intervention look like?
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-considers-drones-in-iraq-and-syria-2013-4">Drone</a> <a href="http://rt.com/news/syria-usa-rebel-drone-356/">strikes</a>? <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/us-weighs-military-options-for-syria-chemical-weapons/1652734.html">Boots-on-the-ground</a>? <a href="http://middleeastvoices.voanews.com/2013/04/insight-creating-a-no-move-zone-in-syria-52225/">Safe havens</a>? <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/04/30/dempsey-syrian-no-fly-zone-wouldnt-work">No</a>-<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/monitor_breakfast/2013/0430/A-no-fly-zone-over-Syria-Harder-to-do-than-in-Libya-warns-top-US-general-video">fly</a> <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-05/opinions/38307553_1_no-fly-zone-air-power-syria">zones</a>? "Decapitation strike"? Simply <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2013/05/02/syrian-rebels-get-first-us-aid/">material support</a>? <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-no-good-military-options-u-syria-194944588.html">Or are there just no good military options</a>?
<blockquote>The question has been, and remains:
<a href="http://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawama/2013/04/guest-post-syria-remembering-reality.html">Does the U.S. have the capacity to end the violence, in any meaningful way, within the immediate future</a>?</blockquote>
The conflict and <a href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/03/syria-ied/">the weapons of war</a> aren't limited to Syria. Repercussions and implications extend through the region:
<a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-01-020513.html">The Syria-Iran Red Line Show</a>
<a href="http://thediplomat.com/the-editor/2013/04/30/want-to-fix-syria-talk-to-iran/">Want to fix Syria? Talk to Iran</a>
<a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-020513.html">Syrian Conflict Casts Long Shadow Over Iraq</a>
<a href="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/More-Syrian-refugees-will-cause-crisis-in-Jordan-309696">More Syrian Refugees Will Cause Crisis In Jordan</a> as <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2013/05/201351102547798144.html">Jordan Weighs Syria Buffer Zone</a>
<a href="http://www.realcleardefense.com/2013/04/27/israel_sees_us_syria_response_as_gauge_on_iran_253103.html">Israel Sees US Respons As Gauge for Iran</a>.
<a href="http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-onion-goes-war-8417"><i>The Onion</i> Goes To War</a> tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.127644Thu, 02 May 2013 10:45:13 -0800the man of twists and turns"Crossroads possess a certain dangerous potency."http://www.metafilter.com/121241/Crossroads%2Dpossess%2Da%2Dcertain%2Ddangerous%2Dpotency
<a href="http://www.guernicamag.com/features/how-things-fell-apart/">How Things Fell Apart</a>, By Chinua Achebe - 'In an excerpt from his long-awaited memoir, the inventor of the post-colonial African novel in English discusses his origins as a writer and the seeds of revolt against the British Empire.' <blockquote>I can say that my whole artistic career was probably sparked by this tension between the Christian religion of my parents, which we followed in our home, and the retreating, older religion of my ancestors, which fortunately for me was still active outside my home. I still had access to a number of relatives who had not converted to Christianity and were called heathens by the new converts. When my parents were not watching I would often sneak off in the evenings to visit some of these relatives.</blockquote> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1594204829/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/">There Was A Country</a>: 'A Personal History Of Biafra' is Chinua Achebe's newest book and memoir, covering from his childhood through the Nigerian Civil War / Biafran War. Achebe wrote in <b>The Guardian</b>: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/02/biafran-war-nigeria-mediocrity-persecution-igbo">The genocidal Biafran war still haunts Nigeria</a> <blockquote>Almost 30 years before Rwanda, before Darfur, more than 2 million people – mothers, children, babies, civilians – lost their lives as a result of the blatantly callous and unnecessary policies enacted by the leaders of the federal government of Nigeria.
As a writer I believe that it is fundamentally important, indeed essential to our humanity, to ask the hard questions, in order to better understand ourselves and our neighbours. Where there is justification for further investigation, justice should be served.</blockquote>
One of the most anticipated books of the year, it has been reviewed in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/author-chinua-achebe-offers-a-restrained-yet-haunted-memoir-of-biafra-and-nigeria-civil-war/2012/10/19/45694846-19f2-11e2-ad4a-e5a958b60a1e_story.html">The Washington Post</a>, <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n19/chimamanda-adichie/things-left-unsaid">The London Review Of Books</a>, <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2012/10/20/there-was-country-personal-history-biafra-chinua-achebe/TvKI4P67NPZZYjlKS4DIDJ/story.html">The Boston Globe</a>, <a href="http://www.tnr.com/book/review/there-was-a-country-things-fall-apart-chinua-achebe-nigeria-biafra#">The New Republic</a>, <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2012/1017/There-Was-a-Country">The Christian Science Monitor</a>, <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/12/a-personal-history-of-biafra/print">Counterpunch</a>, and <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/fdce69c8-1152-11e2-8d5f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz29C0GsL1l">The Financial Times</a>. Ike Anya, author of <a href="http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/People-Dont-Get-Depressed-in-Nigeria">People Don't Get Depressed In Nigeria</a> (<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/119650/You-must-always-keep-an-open-mind-in-this-business">previously</a>), writes a review for <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2012/10/10/%E2%80%98there-was-a-country%E2%80%99-a-review-of-chinua-achebe%E2%80%99s-biafran-memoir-by-ike-anya/">African Arguments</a>.
It has also been reviewed <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/10/there-was-a-country-achebes-journey-in-time/">positively</a> and <a href="http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/10/chinua-achebe-biafra-and-the-travesties-of-war/">negatively</a> by <b>Vanguard Nigeria</b>, reviewed in <a href="http://www.modernghana.com/news/422787/1/re-achebes-memoirs-there-was-a-country-a-personal-.html">Modern Ghana</a>, in <a href="http://africasacountry.com/2012/10/08/chinua-achebe-reflects-on-biafra-but-for-whom/">Africa Is A Country</a>, and <a href="http://vibeghana.com/2012/10/24/chinua-achebes-there-was-a-country-a-personal-history-of-biafra/">Vibe Ghana</a>.
<b>The New Inquiry</b> covers the some of the differences between Western and African reviews (without reading the book): <a href="http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/zunguzungu/there-will-be-a-memoir-achebe-and-biafra/">There Will Be a Memoir: Chinua Achebe and Biafra</a> <blockquote>I bring all this up because if you read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Ike Anya or Chika Unigwe or Noo Saro-Wiwa or Uzodinma Iweala—all Nigerians reviewing the book in prominent American or British newspapers, for what it’s worth—you will find almost none of the personalities, dirty laundry, and petty score-settling. Why is that? Is it that Americans and Britons can’t be bothered to learn about that stuff, so it got edited out or was never written? </blockquote>
<b>The Millions</b>, in <a href="http://www.themillions.com/2012/10/the-defeated-write-history-chinua-achebes-there-was-a-country-a-personal-history-of-biafra.html">The Defeated Write History: Chinua Achebe’s There Was a Country</a> addresses the question: 'But why the long delay? Why did it take Achebe so long to write such a book?'
<blockquote>In a collection of his essays, Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays, 1965-1987, Achebe writes of his distance from the traditional Igbo religions, being the son of Christian converts, and how that distance helped him gain a deep understanding of them. What he writes appears to also justify the decades he’s taken to tackle the Biafran cause. “The distance becomes not a separation but a bringing together like the necessary backward step which a judicious viewer may take in order to see a canvas steadily and fully.”</blockquote> tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.121241Thu, 25 Oct 2012 03:23:45 -0800the man of twists and turnsInteresting aspects of the American Civil Warhttp://www.metafilter.com/117675/Interesting%2Daspects%2Dof%2Dthe%2DAmerican%2DCivil%2DWar
Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor at <em>The Atlantic</em>, recently touched on a couple of interesting aspects of the American Civil War. First, <em><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/racism-against-white-people/259511/">Racism Against White People</a></em> briefly looked at how Southern intellectuals argued that Northern whites were of a different race. Then a subthread in the comments on that post spawned an investigation of <em><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/american-exceptionalism-in-history/259533/">American Exceptionalism in History</a></em> and the notion of preserving democracy in the context of the American Civil War. After all, "if a government can be sundered simply because the minority doesn't like the results of an election, can it even call itself a government?" Definitely check out the comments of both posts. tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.117675Sun, 08 Jul 2012 06:57:59 -0800Brandon BlatcherWe Who Are ABout To Bug Out Salute Youhttp://www.metafilter.com/115696/We%2DWho%2DAre%2DABout%2DTo%2DBug%2DOut%2DSalute%2DYou
<a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/we-who-are-about-bug-out-salute-you_643192.html">We Who Are About to Bug Out Salute You</a><blockquote><em>Rutherford B. Hayes.... brought the troops home and ended Reconstruction, with the almost unanimous support of the nation’s liberal establishment. They too fought politically against slavery before the Civil War, risked their lives to emancipate its victims, and, too soon, couldn’t wait to bug out of the South.</em></blockquote> tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.115696Mon, 07 May 2012 00:53:46 -0800Joe in AustraliaReport of The Truth Commission for El Salvadorhttp://www.metafilter.com/107748/Report%2Dof%2DThe%2DTruth%2DCommission%2Dfor%2DEl%2DSalvador
<em>On March 15, 1993, The Truth Commission for El Salvador published its report</em> <a href="http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html">From Madness to Hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador</a><em>. The Commission attributed the <a href="http://www.elfaro.net/es/201003/noticias/1416/">assassination of Archbishop &#0211;scar Romero</a> to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maura_Clarke">death</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ita_Ford">squads</a>, as well as the deaths of the victims of the <a href="http://www.markdanner.com/articles/show/the_truth_of_el_mozote">El Mozote Massacre</a>. ... Five days after the commission issued its report, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved an amnesty law covering all the violent events of the war.</em> tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.107748Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:11:07 -0800TrurlDIY Weapons of the Libyan Rebelshttp://www.metafilter.com/104598/DIY%2DWeapons%2Dof%2Dthe%2DLibyan%2DRebels
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/06/diy-weapons-of-the-libyan-rebels/100086/#img18">DIY Weapons of the Libyan Rebels</a> tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.104598Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:55:13 -0800T.D. Strangepredicting civil unresthttp://www.metafilter.com/99956/predicting%2Dcivil%2Dunrest
<a href="http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-political-hotspots-professors-global-civil.html">Professors' global model forecasts civil unrest against governments</a> - With <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/01/scenes-from-the-streets.html">protests</a> <a href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/01/protest_spreads_in_the_middle.html">spreading</a> in the <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/99521/Revolution">Middle</a> <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/99898/A-Day-of-Revolution">East</a> (<a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/01/now-yemen-ctd.html">now Yemen</a> - not on the list) I thought this <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/new_computer_program_predicts_likelihood_of_violen.php">article</a> and <a href="http://radicalism.milcord.com/blog">blog</a> on a <a href="http://wiki.milcord.com/index.php/Domestic_Political_Violence_Forecast_Model">forecast model</a> predicting "which <a href="http://radicalism.milcord.com/blog/?p=5">countries</a> will likely experience an escalation in domestic political violence [within the next five years]" was rather interesting. BONUS
<li>the '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_pyramid#Youth_bulge">youth bulge</a>' (hehe) - "that an excess in especially young adult male population [who cannot find jobs] predictably leads to social unrest"
<li><a href="http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/Staveteig.pdf">The Young and the Restless: Population Age Structure and Civil War</a> - more on "youth bulges"
<li><a href="http://www.santafe.edu/media/bulletin_pdf/winter2002v17n1.pdf">Civil War: Political Violence and Robust Settlements</a> - game theoretical approaches combined with on the ground field studies to analyze war and conflict
<li><a href="http://politics.slashdot.org/story/07/06/12/2213233/Can-Statistics-Predict-the-Outcome-of-a-War">Can Statistics Predict the Outcome of a War?</a> - "A University of Georgia scientist has developed a statistical system that can, she claims, predict the outcome of wars with an accuracy of 80 percent."</li></li></li></li> tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.99956Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:01:33 -0800kliuless4 Score 7 yrs Ago @unionhttp://www.metafilter.com/99418/4%2DScore%2D7%2Dyrs%2DAgo%2Dunion
Not to be outdone by the <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/97242/Disunion-the-NYTimes">New York Time's efforts to cover the American Civil War</a>, the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/artsandliving/civilwar/">Washington Post</a> is offering a <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/house-divided/">blog</a> (too), <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/11/01/GA2010110100009.html">before and after photographs of the District of Columbia from 1860 to today</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/search/Civil%20War/docsPerPage_50.html">a guide to ongoing Civil War events</a>, and for those with a short attention span and a fondness for 140 characters, <a href="http://twitter.com/CivilWarwp/tweeting-the-civil-war">Tweeting the Civil War</a> (daily events 150 years after they happened as if they were happening today). tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.99418Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:35:01 -0800Atreidespoignant portraits of youth at warhttp://www.metafilter.com/98233/poignant%2Dportraits%2Dof%2Dyouth%2Dat%2Dwar
In remembrance of the Confederate and Union soldiers who served in the American Civil War, the Liljenquist Family recently donated their <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157625520211184/">rare collection of almost 700 ambrotype and tintype photographs</a> to the Library of Congress. These <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/5229146672">achingly</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/5228557135">poignant</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/5229153190">portraits</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/5228555295">speak</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/5228554069">volumes</a>. Related <a href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/633_lilj_measure.html">essay</a> by the young Mr. Brandon Liljenquist. tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.98233Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:47:24 -0800flapjax at midniteEverything you wanted from an 1860http://www.metafilter.com/98093/Everything%2Dyou%2Dwanted%2Dfrom%2Dan%2D1860
<a href="http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/civilwar/">The Long Recall</a> is a daily news aggregator chronicling the buildup to the U.S. Civil War. The daily posts <a href="http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/civilwar/the-project/">are</a> "digests of the news and commentary that an intelligent American might have had accessible 150 years ago." tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.98093Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:49:46 -0800lalexDisunion @ the NYTimeshttp://www.metafilter.com/97242/Disunion%2Dthe%2DNYTimes
<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/disunion/">Disunion</a> <em>One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Americans went to war with themselves. Disunion revisits and reconsiders America's most perilous period -- using contemporary accounts, diaries, images and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded.</em> Updated every Monday. tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.97242Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:19:39 -0800OmieWiseLint In My Pocket - American Civil War poetryhttp://www.metafilter.com/94705/Lint%2DIn%2DMy%2DPocket%2DAmerican%2DCivil%2DWar%2Dpoetry
<a href="http://thelintinmypocket.wordpress.com/about/">S Thomas Summers</a> teaches writing and literature, and writes poetry about the American Civil War. <a href="http://thelintinmypocket.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/shermans-fury/">Some</a> of <a href="http://thelintinmypocket.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/gettysburg-the-wheatfield/">my</a> <a href="http://thelintinmypocket.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/jesse-james-and-the-civil-war-part-i/">favorites</a>.
Hat tip: <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/08/union-solider-recounts-the-burning-of-atlanta/61101/">The Atlantic</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.94705Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:04:33 -0800Joe in AustraliaAll you need is lovehttp://www.metafilter.com/92789/All%2Dyou%2Dneed%2Dis%2Dlove
<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15288622">Mass wedding for former Tamil fighters</a> <i>Fifty-three couples of former Tamil Tiger rebels were married Sunday ... at a rehabilitation camp near the northern town of Vavuniya.</i> Reminds me <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/2001/12/hoffman.htm">how the PLO retired Black September</a>: "Arafat ordered Abu Iyad 'to turn Black September off'. My host, who was one of Abu Iyad's most trusted deputies, was charged with devising a solution. For months both men thought of various ways to solve the Black September problem, discussing and debating what they could possibly do, short of killing all these young men, to stop them from committing further acts of terror. Finally they hit upon an idea. Why not simply marry them off?" tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.92789Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:42:22 -0800kliulessYou're Wrong! No, You're Wrong!http://www.metafilter.com/92275/Youre%2DWrong%2DNo%2DYoure%2DWrong
<a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_18512_5-lesser-known-completely-ridiculous-american-civil-wars_p1.html">5 Lesser Known (Completely Ridiculous) American Civil Wars</a> , via <a href="http://www.cracked.com/">Cracked</a>. I'm not sure I agree that these were <em>more</em> ridiculous than the Civil War, but I hadn't known about most of these. tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.92275Wed, 26 May 2010 12:00:59 -0800MikoDrawings of the American Civil War Erahttp://www.metafilter.com/84894/Drawings%2Dof%2Dthe%2DAmerican%2DCivil%2DWar%2DEra
<a href="http://idesweb.bc.edu/becker/">The Becker Collection: Drawings of the American Civil War Era</a> "..contains the hitherto unexhibited and undocumented drawings by Joseph Becker and his colleagues, nineteenth-century artists who worked as artist-reporters for Frank Leslie’s <em>Illustrated Weekly Newspaper</em> observing, drawing, and sending back for publication images of the Civil War, the construction of the railroads, the laying of the trans-atlantic cable in Ireland, the Chinese in the West, the Indian wars, the Chicago fire, and numerous other aspects of nineteenth-century American culture." {<a href="http://idesweb.bc.edu/becker/artists">artist biographies</a> / <a href="http://idesweb.bc.edu/becker/browse/subjects">subject browse</a>} [<a href="http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/stunning-archive-of-eyewitness-drawings-from-the-civil-war/">via</a>] tag:metafilter.com,2009:site.84894Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:36:39 -0800peacayA collection of personal lettershttp://www.metafilter.com/84460/A%2Dcollection%2Dof%2Dpersonal%2Dletters
<a href="http://letter.ie/">The Letter Repository</a> contains hundreds of personal letters from the early 18th Century through the Second World War. A large portion of the letters are from <a href="http://war-letters.com/">periods of conflict</a>, the largest chunk being from <a href="http://ww2.letters.ie/">World War Two</a>, though there are also sizable numbers from the <a href="http://ww1.letters.ie/">First World War</a> and the American <a href="http://civil.war-letters.com/">Civil War</a>. There are also quite a few <a href="http://love.letters.ie/index.html">love letters</a>. You can both see scans of the letters (and <a href="http://letter.ie/0017/0016.html">photographs</a> or other materials) as well as transcriptions, which you can edit should you spot errors. One of my favorite collection of correspondance is the one between a <a href="http://letter.ie/0015/">Herbert Beyer, who served in the Air Force in World War Two, his darling Cleo and his parents</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2009:site.84460Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:29:44 -0800KattullusVietnam in Pennsylvaniahttp://www.metafilter.com/84223/Vietnam%2Din%2DPennsylvania
<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/20534/">Civil War reenacting is so 2002.</a> Vietnam reenacting <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_13144804?nclick_check=1">is the new black.</a> But really, if reenacting is your thing, <a href="http://www.reenactor.net/">you've got lots of wars to choose from.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2009:site.84223Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:42:29 -0800billysumday"I started the movement with the firm resolve that I will never be caught alive by the enemy. That has spread down the ranks."http://www.metafilter.com/81787/I%2Dstarted%2Dthe%2Dmovement%2Dwith%2Dthe%2Dfirm%2Dresolve%2Dthat%2DI%2Dwill%2Dnever%2Dbe%2Dcaught%2Dalive%2Dby%2Dthe%2Denemy%2DThat%2Dhas%2Dspread%2Ddown%2Dthe%2Dranks
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prabhakaran">Velupillai Prabhakaran</a>, the <a href="http://www.interpol.int/public/Data/Wanted/Notices/Data/1994/54/1994_9054.asp">elusive and ruthless</a> leader (<a href="http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090518/812/tnl-velupillai-prabhakaran-his-life-time.html">timeline</a>, <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1889902,00.html">short bio</a>) of the violent separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (<a href="http://www.cfr.org/publication/9242">LTTE</a>) has been <a href="http://www.afp.com/afpcom/en/taglibrary/thematic/actuality">reportedly</a> <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/05/19/sri-lanka-tamil-tigers-velupillai-body385.html">killed</a> in battle by the <a href="http://www.army.lk/vgallery.php?galid=29">Sri Lankan Army</a> (self-loading video) (<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/contribute/search.mefi?site=mefi&q=sri-lanka">Previously</a>)
So far, most news organizations are reporting this as fact (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/19/obituary-velupillai-parbhakaran-sri-lanka">guardian obituary</a>) and calling a definite end to the war, but the LTTE are <a href="http://www.welt.de/english-news/article3764970/Victory-declared-but-Tigers-say-their-leader-lives.html">denying</a> <a href="http://www.tamilnational.com/news-flash/1071-prabaharan-alives-says-spathmanathan.html">all claims</a> as to the death of their leader and state that this is simply government propaganda to dissuade their movement. Sri Lanka has been subject to a heavy <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j1e4H88kKwyc8rXvUls7gLOMzt9Q">media blockade</a> since hostilities resumed in December 2005 in the ongoing conflict.
Whether or not the claims are true, the army has completely surrounded and routed the Tigers from their strongholds in Northern Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister has declared <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8056752.stm">victory</a>. It is unclear what will happen from now as many in the Tamil minority are <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0519/p06s14-wosc.html">wary of the government</a>. However, one thing is clear: This is a definite turning point in the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/02/04/f-sri-lanka.html">history</a> of this young, post-colonial nation torn apart by civil war and internal strife for decades. tag:metafilter.com,2009:site.81787Tue, 19 May 2009 16:56:16 -0800shoeboxThe Gaza Bombshellhttp://www.metafilter.com/69570/The%2DGaza%2DBombshell
<i>Vanity Fair</i> has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804">to provoke a Palestinian civil war. </a> tag:metafilter.com,2008:site.69570Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:33:25 -0800East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94